Two men charged over train accident

November 17, 2003 — 11.00am

A fishing trip mishap may have led to a train derailment that injured more than 60 people north-west of Melbourne, police said yesterday after charging two men.

The injured include a woman, 75, who is in The Alfred hospital in a serious but stable condition, and a man with spinal injuries who is in a stable condition in the Austin Hospital's intensive care unit.

It is believed nine others were still in hospital last night.

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A three-carriage V/Line Sprinter train carrying 65 passengers was travelling from Melbourne to Ballarat when it collided with a car between the towns of Ballan and Gordon about 5.30pm.

Two Wyndham Vale men were charged yesterday. It was revealed yesterday that the men had been on a fishing trip.

Police allege that one of the men tried to move the vehicle, but it got stuck on the railway tracks. They believe he got out when he heard the train coming.

A 23-year-old man was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and conspiracy.

A 35-year-old man was charged with recklessly causing serious injury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Both men were bailed and will appear in the Ballarat Magistrates Court today.

Transport Minister Peter Batchelor, who visited the wreckage yesterday, said it was a miracle that no one was killed or more seriously injured.

"It was a very disturbing sight at Ballan," he told radio 3AW. "It was a miracle that there weren't more people more seriously injured. Someone was looking down on those people."

The derailment has sparked calls for new trains to be fitted with seatbelts and more emergency exits.

Leon Hain, the man who led calls for seatbelts and other safety features in buses, said yesterday it was time for trains, too, to have better safety features.

"I can't see why the same principles don't apply to trains," he said. Mr Hain called for new trains to be fitted with lap-sash seatbelts, firmly anchored seats and extra emergency exits to make it easier to reach people after an accident.

He said glass windows should be laminated and all seats should be padded.

"Sooner or later, you will have trains at high speeds that will have accidents, and it will be absolute mincemeat," Mr Hain said.

Mr Batchelor said he could not give details of the crash because men had been charged with "serious" offences.

"What I can say, there was a vehicle on the track without any person in the car itself," he said. "The train came around the bend and was not able to stop."

Mr Batchelor could not comment on train seatbelts.

"We'll have a rail safety investigation, of course, but that will be following the completion of the police investigation," he said.

"If that were to be a requirement or a safety recommendation coming out of it, we'll have to wait and see."

The train's three carriages were still strewn across the tracks yesterday. Two carriages remained upright, but a third had rolled on its side down an embankment.

Mr Batchelor said it would take at least two days to remove the carriages and repair damaged train tracks.

Buses will be used until the line is reopened.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the police's major collision investigation bureau were among people combing the scene yesterday. V/Line will also conduct its own inquiry.

The accident comes just three days after two V/Line Sprinter trains collided at Spencer Street Station.

A board of inquiry is examining that incident, which left 13 people with minor injuries.